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johnson of the central station responded to a fire at 8 -- 824 height street in downtown san francisco. officers found the first and second story buildings involved in flames. leaving the residents, many of them students inside the six- story building in grave danger. officers immediately entered the building and began evaluating the evidence, pounding on doors and alerting them there was a fire. many of them were still asleep. essentially they were forced to withdraw from the building because the heat was so intense in the building. the fire department was still in route to the fire. not until the fire department arrived did it take over the evacuation of the fire personnel were ordered out of the building onto the street for the structure at 824 high street,

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and asphalt and some of the fire equipment had to be moved because the heat was so intense it was buckling the street and the water pipes. the fire spread quickly and started the fire department personnel were overwhelmed. buildings on either side started to go up in the flames. already the buildings were starting to go. the above officers entered the building to evacuate more students and even some in the adjacent building. approximately 150 residents were evacuated from the buildings through the smoke and haze. the ceilings bubbling, and the heat from the bookshelves were still smoldering when they exited the building. many of the residents were asleep, and where they were in

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mortal danger. if they have not been opened, there would have suffocated and many would have passed away in the fire. upon conferring with the fire chief, i learned there where no deaths in the fire, no serious injuries. we credit the actions of these officers for saving many lives and that fire. when i was a little boy, my grandfather told me a story -- grandmother told me a story that a fire has no conscious at all. these officers, from their historic actions and volunteers -- the call for many volunteers to go into the fire that night, and only the officers on the scene into the fire without any kind of protective fire equipment, gloves, or masks. they save the lives of many

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students and people. they represent the highest standard of service the san francisco police department has to offer. [applause] >> for this at the brewery, they will be presented the bronze medal of valor. [applause]

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>> i would like to call up a captain stephen tacchini, and

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officers jones and tapang. good evening. i would like to introduce officer brian jones, and eric tapang. on saturday, september 17, 2011 what working uniform patrol in the broadway corridor of columbus and broadway, officers were summoned. did the to and ask for their assistance in obtaining a subject that appeared to be acting suspicious, and was possibly wanted for criminal act. officers approached the subject. as they did so, they noticed he

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was rolling a marijuana cigarette in his hand. officer tapang remove the cigarette from the man's hand. his immediate response was to flee from officers. saturday night on broadway is pure chaos at 2:00 in the morning. hundreds of people leaving the nightclubs. these officers are chasing this person down the crowded street. as the chase went on for a few yards, but the suspect reached underneath his jacket. he withdrew a tech 9 automatic pistol. he was running down broadway and took the weapon and he there to scare the officer, and pointed the pistol right at officer. officer jones, seeing the threat to the officer and everyone else nearby, fired a shot to protect an officer. almost immediately after that, officer tapang was able to catch

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up with the suspect and wrestle him to the ground, and they were able to take the suspect into custody and secure the pistol. when they checked the weapon they found it had 22 rounds of ammunition in the magazine. so it was clearly a catastrophe waiting to happen as these officers took action. they could have taken a defensive position. they could have taken cover and employed officer safety tactics, but instead, the move to forward to take action to protect their lives, the other officer lives, and hundreds of others on broadway at that time. clearly what they did was an act of heroism and very courageous under the circumstances there were facing. they were outgunned. so without a doubt, officers tapang and brian jones prevented

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serious injury or a life that night. for that reason they are being presented a bronze medal of valor. [applause]

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commander beall will read the citations for sergeant manning. -- commander biel. it will be lots of times for photo opportunities after. >> good evening, everybody. i have the pleasure of introducing our sergeant dani el manning. there was a probation search on the home of a resident who was known to be armed and dangerous

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and narcotics trafficker. in the course of performing duties, sgt manning encounter the suspect with a gun in his hand. in the days prior to the incident, sgt manning learned the resident of 60 kashmir, was dealing narcotics out of the residents. they conducted an investigation and learn a resident of 60 kashmir was robert hackert, a man with a history of violence in numerous felony convictions. on the morning of february 16, a team of officers who set up outside the apartment to conduct a probation search. once it was determined that sector was in sight, the officer's watch for several hours as this aspect -- suspects came and left sparking a suspicion that he was engaged in narcotics trafficking that day. there was a female suspect that the brought to children inside

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the suspected drug house. at 10:30 hours he emerged from the front door and had a cell phone conversation before going back inside. at 11:30 a male subjects and to the house and officers took the time of advantage to make their approach to the front door and yelled out police, a provision search and enter the residence. manning encountered heckert walking down a hallway toward him. manning sa anw a concerning said. he sought a loaded gun in his hand. he instinctively call that gun to officers and anyone else. he grabbed for the gun, and they were engaged in locked in hand- to-hand combat. heckert pulled him into our rear bedroom and they struggled for

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control of the weapon. they flipped over a corner of the bed. manning was able to land on top of him and tried to pin him against the wall between the bed in order to control his arm. that is when the situation went from bad from worse as he grabbed active-duty gun and try to pull it from the holster. manning called for help and alerted the other officers that he was going for his gun. the other officers responded into the room. macmillan jumped into the struggle and pointed the gun at his head. he stated, let it go, or i will shoot. heckert let the get go. the officers took him into custody and saw fire arm that was formally in his hand was now under his body. when they lifted him up, they saw even more disturbing, a three-month old baby was on the

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bed to feet from where the two men had just been engaged in a violent struggle. manning told him that they were there for a provision search, and were still undeterred from his mission. hector stated that he had the gun for his own protection. he continued to search your the bed and found another weapon. a semi-automatic loaded pistol just a few feet from the scene of the bike. in this situation, i believe the courage and fortitude the sergeant manning displayed here not only save his life, the lead of his partners, and the life of the three-month old child on the bed, and for that he is being

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awarded the bronze medal of valor. [applause] >> sergeant orkes will read the

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citation. >> good evening. please allow me to introduce three members of the san francisco police department that i am proud to call heroes. sgt josh espinoza, officer ha, and officer solorzano. december 31, this batch had a call that a vehicle was on fire at 1645 folsom street and indicated -- they did not indicate if anyone was in the car or not. sgt espinoza was the first unit on the scene.

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he arrived on the scene, did a quick survey and then notified dispatch of what was going on. while surveying the scene, he realized an individual was trapped in the driver's seat in the car was engulfed in flames. fully knowing the danger that was in front of him, he did not hesitate. he immediately ran to the car and began to attempt to remove the individual from the burning vehicle. once he reached the vehicle, he realized the person was unconscious and still strapped in his car. at this point the flames began to blow over the windshield. the fire department was still not on scene. even though the heat was intense and possibility of the gas tank could explode at any time, sergeant espinoza did not retreat. at this time, officer ha and

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solorzana arrived on scene. they were amazed at what they saw. they saw him trying to break a window of the car. they knew the danger and immediately ran to the car to assist. the individual in the car was making no attempt to exit the vehicle. he was not moving. the heat in the vehicle intensified. at this time sergeant espinoza was able to break the window, and unbeknownst to him the door was damage due to the collision. as he tried to open the door, the door would not open. officer ran to the other side, was able to get the door open, but realized the person was trapped in the seat belt and was not working. he used his knife to reach into the car and cut it. the heat was so hot his face was

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burning. it scorched his face and hair. he did not retreat. he went into the vehicle and remove the individual from the vehicle. as soon as they got away to safety, the vehicle exploded. the fire department is still not on scene. before they arrived there was a taxicab driver who had attempted to break the window and he was unable to and it got so hot that he retreated. these men did not retreat. they did not hesitate. they did not think about running. to this day, this person is able to wake up in the morning and look at his family. for that break, you are being given the silver medal of valor. [applause]

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capt. eric vintero and officers heppler and carrasco.

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>> good evening. i would like to introduce officer troy carrasco and william elppler, october 3, 2011, police dispatch put out a call of the stabbing that had just occurred. several richmond units began responding to the scene. officer robert long are right first in salt a suspect standing in front of 16th avenue. he saw he was holding his right hand in was dripping with blood. he also observed there was blood all of the sidewalk in front of

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the victim's house. he rendered first aid and so stayed with the victim. officers chased of fillmore, kevin i sent and sergeant mary gray responded to the scene as back of units. elderly male victim told responded officers that his son had stabbed him, and that he was somewhere inside of the house at 636 funston avenue. he said his son was suffering from mental issues. officers quickly determined there were other family members inside the house with the suspect. officers knew there could be for their victims of they did not act immediately. officer fillmore and sergeant grey enter the residence and started walking up the stairs while announcing san francisco

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police department. officers could see the carpeted stairs and walls inside the house were covered in blood. at the top of the stairs was always there ran perpendicular to the stairs. there was still no signs of the suspect or family members. officers made the decision they would have to clear the upstairs room by room. officer i. singh and hernandez went to the right. -- esein. as officer carrasco and heppler went left and saw a body lying prone at the end of the hallway. they saw the body was drenched in blood, and the victim was still breathing. based on his prior experience as a paramedic, officer carrasco knew they needed to be rescued immediately if there was to be any chance of the person surviving. officer carrasco told heppler i

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will pull her out. with complete disregard for his own safety, he ground the bleeding person by the feet and began to drag her to safety. it was later determined that the stick them was the suspect 73- year-old mother who had been stabbed through the neck. he pulled the woman passed officer heppler and a door opens at the end of the hallway. it was later determined to be the suspect's sister and ran hysterically across the hallway. at this time, officer heppler repeated san francisco police department, come out. hearing the commotion from the other side of the hallway, officer heisen and hernandez were standing.

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suddenly, from a door on the left side of the hallway, the suspect appeared holding a large knife in each hand. both arms were raised above his head as he pulled it down the hallway towards officers. officer eisen shot the beanbag. in an attempt to put distance between the suspect and himself, he started backing up all shouting, put it down. the suspect refused to obey the commands and quickly continue towards officer heppler with knives in each hand. the only option he had to stop the threat to him and fellow officers was to use the fire arm. officer heppler shot the suspect and save himself, the other officers, and undoubtably the suspect's sister from being stabbed.

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for these actions they are being awarded the silver medal of valor. congratulations. [applause] > captain feeney, and lt. mak

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solomon, ryan, lieu and reyes. >> good evening. as commanding officer of park station i was looking forward to sharing with you the outstanding office actions of these officer. however, i will stand down for officer solomon. i would be remiss if i did not mention and acknowledge that this is the last medal of valor award ceremony that mark will attend as an active member of

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the standards as the police department. mark is retiring next friday after a 32-year career. at present mark solomon. [applause] >> please, it is not about me. it is about them. thank you. thank you. it is my distinct honor to stand before you and speak on behalf of these fine officers, sergeant scott ryan, a albertalbert lieu and reyes. tuesday, june 7, 2011, the fbi contacted the san francisco police department robbery abatement team providing them with specific information about

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two incidents that occurred in irvine, california. an armed white male suspects driving a gray bmw had committed to armed bank robberies. the suspect had already proven himself dangerous and desperate when he attempted to run down responding deputy sheriffs in order to effectively escape from one of the bank robberies. using the gps, the getaway car was located in our city at one of this the park. -- beuna vista park. the suspects gray bmw was found precisely with gps. the car was legally parked and unattended. the robbery abatement team maintain surveillance of the -- of the vehicle for hours, but no signs of activity. park station please -- plain clothes officer under the direction of sergeant scott ryan

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and robert lieu adnd reyes observed. they noticed until lights were on and the sun roof was opened. officer lew quickly executed a u-turn and confirmed it was occupied by the suspect. officers immediately got out of the car, drew their weapons and began giving verbal commands. they identified themselves, told a suspect he was under arrest and ordered them to surrender. the officers instinctively trying to related on the vehicle. officer ray is move to position your their rear passenger side of the suspect's car. officer lew move to their rear of the driver's side of the vehicle parked to the left -- officer le